


Delayed Gratification

by Palefire73



Series: Loki Origins [13]
Category: Frigga - Fandom, Fulla - Fandom, Hogun - Fandom, Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Sif - Fandom, Thor - Fandom, Volstagg - Fandom, Young Loki - Fandom, Young Thor - Fandom
Genre: Birthday party games, Frigga uses magic to cheat but in a good way, Gen, Loki learns patience, Thor is an A-Class older brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5069134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is Loki's Third Birthday!</p><p>Frigga organises a party and introduces a new Midgardian game called "Pass The Parcel" Loki learns patience and Thor is a really cool older brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delayed Gratification

“Let that one go there and the rest can be in this corner.”

 

Frigga and Fulla were having a pleasant afternoon decorating the nursery for a party for Loki’s third birthday. The little boy was currently being entertained by Odin and Thor, who had been press-ganged into taking him out while the women readied everything. The Queen had received a message from a runner only ten minutes ago to advise her that Loki was currently having a nap on a blanket under a tree with his brother, having spent two hours giving Odin and Thor a run for their money as they tried to keep up with him on the playground equipment and then having ravenously devoured a sizeable share of the picnic they had taken with them.

 

Finally the room was ready. It was decorated with blue and gold streamers, balloons and a large banner reading “Happy Third Birth Celebration Loki!”

 

The table at which the little family usually ate their meals was set out with a buffet-style selection of foods that children of the realm loved and there were games to play and music to dance to and some entertainers on their way.

 

“I think it is ready, my lady.” Said Fulla as they both cast a critical eye on their preparations. “Do you think he will like it?”

“I hope he loves it!” Laughed Frigga, “Now, I think a sit down with a cup of tea is in order before we invite the festivities in, don’t you?”

“A cup of tea would be marvellous…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Frigga took a deep breath and went back into the nursery where a wall of noise hit her head on. She had been to many, many gatherings, feasts and celebrations in her long life, but of all of them the noisiest by far and away and certainly without fail would always be a children’s party. She had just taken five minutes to have a break from the frantic noises and children – all talking, laughing and shouting at or above each other – things being spilled and the constant needs of those aged between one and twelve years old having to be attended to.

 

She decided that something was needed to calm things down, so she quickly crossed to an harassed looking Fulla and mentioned the game she had been saving for a moment like this. Her Lady-In-Waiting immediately gave her a smile of relief and the two of them worked quickly, calming children down and bringing them to sit in a large circle on the floor. Loki sat next to Thor, who sat next to the maiden Sif, then the warrior-boys three and then various other children of the court and nobles of Asgard.

 

As a curious silence descended, Frigga’s ears seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and she smiled around at the assembled youngsters.

 

“This is a party game.” She announced and the children all started to look excited and interested. “We will play music as a parcel is passed around the circle. When the music stops, the person holding it may remove a layer of wrapping paper. There are prizes inside for those lucky enough to find one.” Eager chatter arose, but Frigga motioned for quiet. “The piper will play the music. When he stops, take a layer of paper off. It is that simple.”

 

Because it was his celebration, the parcel was handed to Loki, and the youngster’s excitement was clear on his face. This was a brand new game and it had never been played before now – he must really be loved to have been chosen as the first child to have it at their party! The piper, who was round the corner so he could not see who had hold of the parcel as it went  around the circle, began to play a  merry tune and Frigga motioned to Loki that he should pass the parcel on to the next child. He handed it reluctantly to Thor, who held on to it for some time before passing it on to Sif, but soon the children got the  hang of it and the parcel began to move faster and faster.

 

The music stopped just as Volstagg received it in his meaty hands and he grinned widely. He eagerly tore off the top layer of brightly coloured paper and was thrilled to find a sweet biscuit flavoured with Asgardian Wild Raspberries, which he promptly devoured. The music started up again and he passed the parcel to Hogun as he finished the sweet treat. Each child, having seen that there was the potential for obtaining a gift when the paper was removed, excitedly grabbed the parcel from the child before and then passed it on after a longer and longer pause. Each time Loki gave it up to Thor, his beautiful blue eyes would then watch the brightly wrapped object moving around the circle before it eventually made its way back to him.

 

The next child lucky enough to remove some paper was a young boy who excelled in the arts and his gift turned out to be a small packet of vibrantly coloured chalks. As he grinned happily at his prize, Fulla gave Frigga a sidelong glance.

 

“Are you… manipulating… the gifts, my lady?” She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Frigga shrugged, “I may be… tailoring… the gifts to the child who happens to be unwrapping the paper…”

“Well, I suppose it is more fun to get something you like.” Fulla peered more closely at her Queen, “The music… it stops completely at random, yes?”

Frigga elbowed Fulla playfully, “Of course! That I do not have any influence over. Oh – look, it has stopped again. Now, I have the perfect gift for Sif.”

 

The young girl, who was already showing signs of becoming a formidable warrior, tore off the paper and held her gift up triumphantly. It was a hair pin, but it was no ordinary sparkly trinket such as might have been favoured by one of the other young ladies about court. This one was clearly designed into the shape of a sword and shield and displayed the arms of Sif’s family. She beamed around happily and slid it straight into her dark hair, showing it off proudly. The other children clapped happily and then started calling for the music to start again so they could continue the game. Frigga noticed that Loki was struggling to remain good-natured the longer the game went on, especially as Thor got a turn at taking a layer of paper from the parcel, which was now very much smaller than when the game had begun. The little boy was trying to remain happy, but he was only very young and it was his celebration and she knew he would probably not last much longer. This time, when he saw the present Thor got right next to him, Loki suddenly cast her a puzzled glance and she worried that he may have seen the very end of the transformation spell that had made Thor’s gift into a smart leather bracer for his sword arm.

 

Fortunately, she had rigged this game to a certain extent and the only other person who knew was in fact Thor. For at the centre of the parcel, in gold paper, there was a gift for Loki from his older brother. This was not how the game was usually played on Midgard, where Frigga had first observed it in action, but Frigga had decided to give it her own twist. Earlier that day, Thor had found her preparing the game and had asked a favour of her. He wanted to do something nice for his little brother and it was for a very special reason.

 

Just a few weeks earlier, Thor had broken his favourite toy, a flying defender craft, whilst playing in the nursery and had been very upset. Later the same day, he had thanked his mother for a new one when he had spotted a perfectly whole defender toy on the box in the nursery and had gone off to play with it with his friends. However, it was not a new one; Loki had mended the broken one with his magic and had left it out for Thor to discover. Frigga had told Thor this the next day when she had managed to get a few minutes alone with her elder son. Thor had been amazed and had been quite touched that Loki would understand how much the toy had meant to him and then gone on to fix it. Frigga had asked him to keep it a secret, as she told him magic was still frowned on a little in the Palace, so the blonde haired Prince had complied.

 

However, now that it was Loki’s birthday, he had wanted to do something nice in return.

 

This time, Frigga did influence the music just a little, by causing the piper to cease the tune just as the parcel was handed to Loki. Once he realised it was his turn to take a layer of paper off, his little face broke into a huge grin and he looked around at the circle of children happily. Thor and his friends started to clap in a beat and chanted “Loki… Loki… Loki…” as he began to tear at the paper, which was the first – and only – layer in gold, and the little boy became more and more excited.

 

When he saw that he had won the final prize of the game and what it was that he had unwrapped, he looked up to his brother who was watching him expectantly. The golden haired Prince reached out and took it from him, and then helped him to put it on.

 

Loki’s prize, the best out of all of those which had been revealed during the game of pass the parcel was the one thing he had coveted so highly since the day he had first seen it. And so, earlier that day, Thor had shown it to their mother and announced he should like to present it to Loki on his special day. He now grinned broadly as he helped Loki to put it on and then the little boy rose to his feet to show it off to the other children. The three year old walked proudly around the circle to allow the party guests to look at and to admire his prize – Thor’s gold medal on a red ribbon.

**Author's Note:**

> Orincyte (https://archiveofourown.org/users/orincyte/pseuds/orincyte) asked in the comments for "The Toy" about Thor finding out just how he got what he thought was a new toy, so here you go!!!


End file.
